


Without a Trace

by Shelaffs



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Family, One Shot, POV Adrien Agreste, Secret Identity, for now, no identity reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-02-28
Packaged: 2018-05-23 19:09:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6127150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shelaffs/pseuds/Shelaffs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel Agreste has been reported as being linked to the Akuma attacks that have plagued Paris for the past year. Adrien must come to terms with this both as his son and his enemy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Without a Trace

It wasn’t until several hours after the news reports had been flashing all over Paris that Adrien had first heard about it. He’d gone straight from his studies to one of his private fencing lessons as dictated by his father’s schedule so he only suspected something might be wrong when he returned to his locker to find 5 missed calls from Nino, 21 from Chloe - Adrien mentally noted this meant she called every few minutes while he’d been in his lessons - and a text from Marinette. 

“That stupid thing kept me from dreaming of my beloved cheese” Plagg shot out from his gym bag. Adrien rolled his eyes as he unlocked his phone to read his text first. 

_Hi Adrien, are you doing okay? _was all it said. Marinette was always a little weird around him, but this wasn’t her normal kind of weird…Why shouldn’t he be okay?__

He had started to reply when his phone buzzed as another call from Nino came in. Plagg sighed loudly and buried his head under Adrien’s shirt. Adrien couldn’t blame his kwami if this is what he’d been dealing with all morning. 

“DUDE! Finally!!” Adrien winced and pulled his phone away quickly at Nino’s greeting.

“Yeah Nino, I just got out of my lessons. What’s up? Chloe called me nonstop too.” 

“Man I don’t know how to tell you this, but...your dad’s been on the news all morning. They think he’s linked to the Akuma somehow.”

“What? How could he be? I would-” Adrien stopped short before he said too much. “How could he be?” He looked down at Plagg who was now sitting up, white shirt draped over his head, staring up at Adrien. 

“I don’t believe it, don’t worry. But be careful going home. Your place is swarmed with news crews. You’re free to come to my place but with how your dad is…”

“Yeah, thanks Nino, but I’m sure my dad wants me coming straight home. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll give you a call later.”

“Sure thing, I’ll let Alya and Marinette know you’re okay. I think they were going to check in on you too. Later!” 

“Sure thing. Bye.” 

Adrien’s hand slowly dropped as he looked down at Plagg. “It’s not possible...right? You’d know wouldn’t you? I would be able to tell! I…” His voice cracked as the news truly hit him. There was no way his own father could be related to the Akuma attacks. He couldn’t possibly be Hawkmoth. His father was busy and sometimes forgetful and distant with him, but he wasn’t a criminal. No. Adrien tightened his grip on his phone. His father was not Hawkmoth. He’d go home for his scheduled lunch where Nathalie would tell him his father was in a meeting and unable to join them, but he had scheduled a photoshoot for the following day. All of this would blow over and his life would go back to the way it had always been. 

Adrien quickly changed, slipping Plagg a piece of camembert as he walked out to the Gorilla waiting for him in his limo. Just like every other day.

* * *

The reporters parted like a sea as the limo drove through their masses, cameras flashing in his face. Even through the tinted windows they were blinding. The Gorilla remained silent the entire drive home, though Adrien caught him glancing back every so often. He hadn’t dared to pull up the news reports in the car, preferring to wait until he was home to see his father and ask him about himself. 

Nathalie raced out to meet the car and quickly ushered him up the stairs and closed the door behind them. She looked panicked, but that was to be expected with everything going on and his father’s temper. 

“Nathalie, where’s my father? I need to speak to him. I understand he’s busy but it’s urgent.”

His father’s assistant placed her hands on his shoulders and crouched so that she was at eye level with him. _Oh no. ___

“Adrien, your father appears to be missing. I went to inform him of the reports as soon as I received word this morning but he wasn’t in his office and I haven’t been able to reach him. Has he contacted you at all?”

Adrien couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It wasn’t possible. His father wouldn’t have left him all alone. After a moment to process he finally responded “Um...no, no I haven’t heard from him.”

“Okay, Adrien please go up to your room. I’ll have a meal prepared for you and please avoid those ludicrous news reports. I will find your father, don’t worry.”

* * *

His lunch remained untouched at the edge of his desk, minus a full slice of camembert. He had articles and videos from every major news outlet pulled up on his screens, along with a live feed of any news mentioning Gabriel Agreste. Plagg sat perched on his shoulder as Adrien absorbed everything he could. 

“New information has led to speculation that Gabriel Agreste, the renowned fashion designer based here in Paris may in fact be linked to the Akuma attacks. It is believed the attacks have been the work of a single person known as Hawkmoth.”

“We have with us Ladybug-” Adrien immediately turned to the latest news video that was pulled up. What was she doing?  
“-with exclusive information about the Akuma and Hawkmoth. Ladybug, can you confirm that Gabriel Agreste is indeed this Hawkmoth, and source of the Akuma attacks?”

Adrien furrowed his brows angrily. They didn’t know that for certain anymore than he did. 

“Um, yes, hi.” Ladybug turned to the camera and did a slight wave. “I reached out to make sure that Chat Noir and I share what we know regarding this. We’ve been working hard for the past few months to stop the Akuma attacks and we can confirm that someone who goes by Hawkmoth is behind them.” He realized he had stopped breathing. Did she believe his father was behind this too? His Lady…

“But we still don’t know who Hawkmoth is at this time. We’re working hard to stop the attacks and we hope eventually this will lead to discovering his identity but for now we still don’t know. I wouldn’t want to ruin a good man’s reputation over rumors that got out of control. That’s all. Thank you for your time!” She smiled her sweet smile and handed the microphone back to the reporter. 

“This has been an exclusive interview for-” Adrien shut off the feed. 

Ladybug was trying to protect his father’s reputation. Without knowing either of them, she still wanted to make sure his family was protected. Of course she would. He smiled to himself, and then sighed. As good as her intentions were, the fact that this rumor had been spread at all, plus his father’s sudden disappearance had caused doubts in his mind. 

What if Hawkmoth was his father…? Was that possible? His father was away for work a lot of the time, but he was too busy with work to do anything...like...create an Akuma. This was all so weird. But as much as he wanted to believe it wasn’t possible, it wasn’t any more unbelievable than him being Chat Noir.

“Plagg.” He looked down at his kwami who looked back up, a carefully neutral expression on his face.

“It’s more important than ever that no one finds out who I am. Especially Ladybug.”

“Are you sure? I mean it might help to have her know who you are in this case...”

“No. I barely know what to think of the situation. Can you imagine if she found out I’m Adrien, son of the man accused of being Hawkmoth? How could she trust me?” He paused, getting up to look out his window at the Eiffel Tower. The lights of Paris glittered as the sun was setting and the sky glowed a deep orange. 

“I can barely trust myself right now. I should have known. I should have been able to tell somehow. What will I do if...”

“Adrien, don’t beat yourself too much over it. No one knows for sure. We’ll figure this out.” 

Adrien sighed and looked down at his ring. “I could use some time to think about all this.” 

Plagg floated out in front of Adrien to smirk at him. “Just say the words kid.” 

“Plagg, transform me.”

* * *

The view of Paris at night was always beautiful. It had a meditative and serene feeling that allows someone to get lost in their thoughts. It seemed incredible that after today, Paris was able to carry on like nothing had happened. Like his world wasn’t falling apart around him.  
Chat closed his eyes and allowed the cool breeze to close in around him, his feet swaying as he sat on the edge of a beam high up on the Eiffel Tower. 

“Chat?”

Chat visibly jumped and turned around to see his Lady approaching. She eyed him curiously at his reaction but said nothing.

“My Lady” he attempted a smile knowing she’d see right through it. But he had to try - she couldn’t know what this really meant for him. He knew it was strange for him to be anything less than insistent that they track down Hawkmoth immediately, but that was more than he was capable of right now considering the past few hours.

“I take it you saw the news?” 

Chat looked away toward his own home as Ladybug sat down beside him. 

“Yeah” he said simply. She had followed his gaze, looking over at the Agreste home. 

“I’m scared too. But we have to stop him. If he truly is Hawkmoth, we have to put an end to his Akuma.” She returned her gaze to meet Chat’s. That determined fire was in her eyes as always. With any other enemy he would have loved her for it. This time it just made him feel sick. 

He turned to look back at his home, thinking about the chaos that had afflicted Paris over the past year and nodded fiercely, determined not to let Ladybug see how much he was shaking. 

“Absolutely.”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if I'm on board with the Gabriel Agreste = Hawkmoth theory but I had a dream about news reports revealing him and Adrien freaking out and had to write a quick little fic about it. I hope you enjoy!


End file.
